Galon's Story
by Hafilien42
Summary: Au and OC story, not a MarySue fic. I've now made a version of Dimension writers without the interdimensional travel thing. Pure ATLA fanfic. Firebender joins the GAang and accompanies them on their quest. still the "new" Kat-alon
1. Chapter 1

This is a different version of Dimension Writers, without the whole intr-dimensional travel thing. I'm probably going to continue with both but they will each have their slight differences.

Chapter 1

The Deserter

Galon had been living with Jeong Jeong and his group for almost his whole life, ever since his father abandoned him.

I had never wanted to be a hero, merely to make my way through life with as little strife as possible. I was therefore shut-out from the world, alone with my curses and burdens. I was a firebender and, although I'd rather not be, a metalbender too.

The day was a normal one, I had woken up, did some firebending exercises, Then I did some sword training and went into the town right next to camp, that's where I heard about him. Apparently, he had burned down the fire nation temple of Avatar Roku. I also heard that he was travelling with two water tribe "peasants", whom I discovered were named Sokka and Katara. He was called Aang, and he was the Avatar. For a month and a half I was obsessed with finding information about Him. Then I made a crucial decision; he was the messiah of this world, and I believed he could help me. I was outside in a clearing, doing some firebending exercises when something happened to make my heart skip a beat.

"Sir, the Avatar's coming here!" The rebel's voice was unexpectantly loud in my ear, and I accidentally set the tree next to me on fire.

"What!" I said, annoyed as I put out the flames.

"We heard reports of a flying bison headed this way!" he said, standing back a ways as to avoid any more errant fire blasts.

"When will he get here?"

"He'll be here by tonight sir."

"Alright, I need to get ready." I said.

After all the time I had spent there, all the weeks I had waited I was finally going to meet the Avatar. I got all my clothes packed in my sack and strapped on my sword. (if you would remember that in the series, there was another guy who saved the Gaang, but I got rid of him and put in Galon) I left camp, and headed into the forest. I took a wide path around the village so that I would be behind Aang when he went into the village. Finally, I saw him at the edge of a hill leading into the village. He was a small 12 boy, bald and wearing traditional airbender clothing. There was a girl and boy next to him were both wearing water tribe clothing, although they had covered them with black cloaks. As I watched, I took in the features of the two water tribe adolescents. The boy was sarcastic, a skeptic, and was pessimistic. He had a shaved head, except for a strip in the center that was pulled back in a pontytail, obviously Sokka. The girl, she had a lighter attitude, and her hair was braided down her back, with a bun on the back of her head. She was rather cute, I had to admit, and she had deep, blue eyes that reflected the light from the moon, and they were, was she looking at me? I ducked more behind the bush. She kept staring for a moment, but was then distracted by Sokka, hurrying her along. I kept following them into the town, where they bought masks to cover their faces. They seemed to be distracted by a crowd of people and went to investigate, I followed. The performer pulled the girl up onto the stage and I moved closer. The performance involved her being a captured princess, and Aang was saying,

"We gotta help her!"

_No, I can't have the Avatar reveal himself!_ I thought and I grabbed at him, but missed. I ran around onto the stage as someone yelled,

"Hey! That kid's the Avatar!" Guards started running towards the stage. I blew a hole in the wall behind the stage with fire and yelled,

"Come through here, I can get you out of here!" without hesitation, the three ran after me down the alley behind the wall.

"Down here! Hurry!" I yelled, turning down another alleyway, with guards right on our heels. I turned left, right into a dead end,

"Stand behind me! I'll hold them off." I said. Once they were behind me, I started searching in the ground with my mind, for any metal. I found a small reservoir just below us and I started bending it up. The metal burst through the ground in spikes, just in front of the advancing soldiers. Then I heard something from just above me and looked up,

"Appa! I knew you'd come buddy! Come on, we can ride out on Appa." Aang held out his hand from the back of the ten-ton flying bison. I climbed on, not knowing what else to do. More out of spite than anything else, I leaned over the edge of the saddle and shot a fireball into a crate of fireworks, which immediately started going off. When I looked up, I saw Katara looking at me funnily,

"What, do I have something on my face?" I said.

"Oh, uh no. You just look familiar." She said, looking away quickly.

"But you're from the Fire nation," said Sokka, pointedly.

"So?"

"Sooo, why are you helping us?"

"Just because I'm from the Fire nation doesn't mean that I'm evil." I replied, having heard this before.

" You should set us down here, then I'll be able to take you to meet Jeong Jeong. I'm Galon, by the way." I was not ready to get into a big argument over whether the Fire nation was evil or not.

"Oh, I'm Aang" he said as he took us into a slow dive towards the ground.

"I'm Sokka, and this is Katara, my sister." Sokka said, before she could say anything.

Once we had gotten off Appa, I made a quick fire.

"Well, since I just rescued you, maybe we can get to know each other a little better." I said as I sat down on a log.

"How did you do that?" Aang blurted out.

"Do what?" I asked, but I thought I knew the answer.

"You broke down the wall with fire, but then you pulled metal out of the ground. I mean, how can you bend both elements?" he said. Katara made a sign to Sokka to shut up, who had been trying to talk the entire time.

"Oh, that's kind of personal, but I guess you can know the overview. I was born a firebender, but something happened to me when I was young which kind of gave me the ability. I never really understood it."

"Oh, that's okay, I didn't mean to pry." Aang looked apologetic,

"Hey, if you're not for the fire nation and you're a firebender, couldn't you teach me? I need to master all the elements before the end of summer."

"Well, I don't think I would exactly be the best person to teach you, but you could ask Jeong Jeong." I replied.

"But you're Fire Nation!" Sokka cried, finally losing control.

"Yea, I am. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stab you in the back," just as I finished saying this, we were surrounded by at least twelve men with spears.

"Hey, how's it going Lin Yi?" I said, almost casually. Sokka was about to say something when Lin Yi said,

"We're to take you to Jeong Jeong, he's very displeased with you Galon." I stood up,

"Sorry about this, but at least you'll get to see Jeong Jeong." I said,

"Shut up, and get moving," Lin Yi said, poking me in the back.

Once we got to the camp, Lin Yi pushed me in the back and said,

"Go, Jeong Jeong wants to talk to you." Aang tried to go with me, but was held back by the men. I took a deep breath, and started walking towards the hut. When I entered, I saw Jeong Jeong in his normal position, sitting with his back to the door and surrounded by candles.

"Why did you bring him here?" he said, before I could do anything.

"He wants to learn firebending from you Master. And, I want to join him and his friends." I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"And why, did you think he was ready to learn firebending when he has not yet mastered water or earthbending? Did you really think that I would teach him out of the order of the avatar cycle?"

"No, I did not, but he thought he was. He thinks you will be the only person available to teach him."

"No, I will not teach him, and I forbid you from doing so. But, you may join his group, if they will accept you."

"I hope they will, but will you at least think about training him? He is the avatar." I stood up,

"You have been my best student I ever had Galon, I will see if he is worthy to be taught. Not now though, have him come in the morning."

"Yes master," I turned to leave, but Jeong Jeong said,

"I will miss you, pupil." I was a little taken aback at his tenderness, and at his certainty I would leave.

"Thank you, Master Jeong Jeong," I left. I headed to the hut where the others were, thinking,

_I shouldn't ask them now, it would be too direct. I'll wait until Jeong Jeong makes up his mind as to whether he will train Aang._

"Hey, who were you talking to?" Sokka said, looking over my shoulder as I entered the small hut,

"Oh ah, no one, I just stubbed my toe outside." I said defensively, not realizing I said it aloud.

"So, what did he say, is he going to teach Aang?" Katara asked as she gestured at the sleeping form of the boy.

"He's, going to talk to Aang tomorrow, and will decide then. I think you should just get some sleep, you'll probably be leaving tomorrow," I said.

"What, why?" Katara asked.

"Because Jeong Jeong almost never changes his mind." I left, and headed towards my own hut. I had many thoughts swirling in my head I had to get sorted out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zhao

I got up early in the morning to go see Jeong Jeong, but when I got there, I saw that Aang had already gone in. I sat down in front of the hut and waited. It was a while before Aang came out, by which time both Katara and Sokka had gotten up and came over to the water. Sokka started fishing and Katara started waterbending. When Aang finally did come out, it was with Jeong Jeong, who said,

"I will train Aang, but only in the basics of firebending." I stood up, and Aang got on the rock I was on previously. He started "concentrating" on the warmth of the sun while squatting. Sokka and Katara started giggling but abruptly stopped when Aang looked over at them.

I meanwhile, went over to another clearing and started practicing firebending. After a while of practice, I saw out of the corner of my eye that Katara had wandered over and started watching me, but had stayed in the shadows of the trees. As I noticed this, I became very sloppy, and almost set another tree on fire,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to distract you," she said, coming over and looking genuinely sorry.

"No, it's alright. I was finished anyway." I replied, sitting down on a rock. It was a lie, but it wouldn't matter.

"You looked pretty good, you know, doing that." She said as she looked at the singed tree, and sitting down next to me. I don't know why, but something about her being that near to me made me feel uncomfortable, yet elated.

"Well, that's not really why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you about you're metalbending, and how you got it." I was somewhat taken aback at how forward she was being, but my answer was calm.

"I already told you, things in my past made me like this."

"I know, I didn't mean to pry. It's just, if you are going to go with us to the North Pole, then I should at least know a little about you." Everything in this conversation so far had only served to confuse me so I asked the obvious question,

"How did you-"but I was cut-off by her reply.

"Jeong Jeong told me, he said to talk to you about though."

"Well, I now know that you must know if you are to accept me." I took a deep breath before proceeding. I had never talked about it before to anyone, not even to the DWs,

"I've never told anyone what really happened back then, because it so painful, but I sense you will understand.

My mother died because of me, because I could not defend her. I swore I would do whatever it took to bring justice to the men who killed her."

"My mother was taken from me by the Fire nation; I know what you're going through." I was almost pulled out of myself, hearing the similarities echoing in the tone of her voice and my story.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," was all I managed.

"No, this is your story; I think I should hear it." I looked up at her. She was looking at me in a way I had never seen anyone look at me before, but then I realized. In all of the years I had been hidden from the world, gone unnoticed by regular civilians, no one had ever looked at me with pity and understanding. Nevertheless, I continued,

"Well, in my desperation I turned to my Father. He was a high-ranking Fire nation general, but somehow he always had time to teach me firebending. I admit, his techniques were not encouraging, but I didn't suspect-. He thought he had gotten away with it, that I'd never find out."

"Find out who killed your mother."

"Yes. Nevertheless, eventually I found out who it was… He did it, my own father killed my mother." Katara gasped and put her hand to her mouth.

"What?!" she exclaimed, but I hardly registered her actions, too absorbed in my memories.

"When I found out, I challenged him to an agne kai. He immediately accepted, knowing he would win. He took me to a cave made completely of metal for the duel." My left arm had started to burn, but I hardly noticed.

"What happened?" Katara asked, almost as immersed in my past as I was.

"It was over within minutes, but he did not kill me. He stood over me and said 'you are the son of a Fire nation general, I expected better.' Then he left me there to die." my voice was in a monotone, at complete contrast to my burning body.

"how did you survive?" she said, but by now her voice was hardly a whisper.

"I fell unconscious and for some time, I slept. When I awoke I found myself in the middle of a burning village with no memories of moving or with any idea how long I was unconscious. I later learned that I had destroyed that village, because of this." I held out my left arm, which was covered in a glove and by my sleeve. Without saying anything Katara reached over and pulled off the glove. She gasped again as she saw the gleaming metal arm.

"this is my curse; it gives me the ability to metalbend. It is the solution to your question and the question of my life." I felt something break as I lost control, and I stood up. I was not the one who punched the tree next to me, I was not the one who saw splinters flying through the air and the crack that ran up the tree, threatening to topple it. no it wasn't me it was the metal, which in that instant had gained control and caused my left hand to do it. I told none of this to Katara, I merely said,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose control like that. You must understand that my past was difficult for me, and I've never talked about it with anyone else before." I looked over at her face. There was a tender expression on it, one of a concerned parent, like I had just given a sincere apology for breaking a vase.

"I know how you feel; it's okay to feel confused or sad. I think you would be a perfect addition to our group by the way." I didn't know why, but I obeyed her outstretched hand as she led me back to the camp. When we got there, I took my hand back, and noticed at the same time that Aang was still on the rock, while Jeong Jeong was just coming out of his hut.

"I'm going to take a walk," I said to Katara. I don't know why I told her this, but she acknowledged me and I still left. As I walked, I thought. I thought about what I had just said to an almost complete stranger. Just then I heard a distant scream in the direction of the camp. I turned and started running back towards the camp what was it, an attack? As I got nearer however, I saw that there was not an attack, merely some scuffle between Aang and the others. Then I saw katara run off, sobbing. It was odd, because even though I lost the tension of preparation for a battle, I ran still faster. When I got near enough to the camp, I saw that Sokka had tackled Aang and was screaming at him for burning his sister. I also saw Jeong Jeong heading out towards the two; he saw me and pointed towards the clearing Katara and I had been earlier, and where she had run off to. I headed towards it as I heard Sokka yell at Jeong Jeong that it was his fault.

When I got to the clearing, I saw Katara sitting near the edge of the water. She was crying and had her hands held underneath her arms. As I watched, she placed her burnt hands in the water, and when she took them out they weren't burned anymore.

_She has healing powers! _I exclaimed in my head. I had repeated the words aloud without really thinking, and Katara turned.

"What do you want?" I heard the poison in her voice.

"I heard what happened, but what you did just then; it's not very common for waterbenders to have that ability. Sometimes I wish I had abilities like yours, instead my curses and burdens. We firebenders have powers only meant for destruction. We firebenders are forever forced to walk a razor's edge, between humanity and savagery. I now regret telling Jeong Jeong to train Aang now."

"You told him to train Aang?" she had gone from icy to accusing, and I had a feeling I'd rather hear the icy side.

"I only told him to consider Aang as a student, the choice to train Aang was completely his own. Wait," I held up my hand before Katara could respond.

"I heard something," I heard a noise that sounded like wind moving through the trees, but it was getting louder. I looked up, and as I did I saw three fireballs falling towards us. Without thinking, I pulled Katara out of the way and under a tree, as the fireballs destroyed the area we had just been talking. I saw Jeong Jeong come out from under the trees. He yelled at us,

"Go! Don not come back here, or you will be destroyed!" I started to head towards him, intent on protecting him from the mysterious boats coming out of the mist.

"Go with the girl! Make sure they are safe." I hesitated but then I nodded and went off through the woods after Katara. When I reached the camp I saw that Sokka were still there, although Aang was not.

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked.

"He's in the hut, but he isn't talking. Are you alright?" Sokka asked in turn.

"I'm fine, Galon's coming with us, now." Katara said as she ran towards Jeong Jeong's hut.

"You're, coming. With us?" Sokka said, rather flustered.

"Um, yeah, I guess. That's what Katara said." I responded, not knowing what Sokka's reaction would be.

"But, you're from the Fire nation." Sokka said, still incredulous about that fact.

"Yes, I am. But I've proven myself to your sister, shouldn't that be good enough?" I thought I heard Sokka mutter a small "no" under his breath, but then he said,

"Well, I'll get Appa. You need to get your stuff."

"We need to hurry; we're under attack by some fire nation soldiers." I couldn't really understand why this hadn't been mentioned before, but it didn't matter anymore. I was already looking forward to getting away from this place, but also apprehensive about going to a nation of waterbenders. Before I could get my head exactly around my nervousness, Sokka interrupted,

"I think it must be Zhao, he's been following us for a while now." He said just before getting out of earshot.

"I just hope we can get out of here before he reaches us." I gathered up my stuff hurriedly and ran back towards Jeong Jeong's hut. I saw the ten ton bison coming down with Sokka. I also saw Aang running towards the clearing where Jeong Jeong and Zhao were,

"What's he doing?" I asked Katara as I reached her and the others.

"He's going to buy us some time. Don't worry, he'll get back." She assured me. I tossed my pack up to Sokka, who was on the back of Appa. As I was climbing up onto the bison's back, I saw fire coming out of the forest in the direction of the clearing. Just as I started thinking we would have to go back and help him, I saw him flying out of the smoke on a glider, which had apparently also been his staff. I looked back as Aang joined us and we flew into the distance, the camp was completely deserted. I looked over at Aang's burnt clothes, and Katara said,

"Oh Aang you're burnt, here." She bended some water onto her hand and placed it over Aang's burn. When she took her hand away, the burn was gone,

"Wow, that's good water." Upon the end of Aang's sentence, Sokka started complaining about all the times Katara could have used her healing abilities in the past to help him. I watched the three laughing, and thought to myself. I thought about how lucky I was to be in the presence of the avatar and to be a part of a group I knew would be epic.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Airbenders

We had only been flying about a day when we heard about them. Apparently, there were "air-walkers" spotted in the skies near the northern airbender temple, at least, according to a storyteller's Grandpa. Aang got very excited at the mere mention that there might be airbenders still alive at the temple.

"We gotta go check it out!" he said, as soon as we were far enough from the storyteller he wouldn't hear us.

"Aang, even if there are airbenders still at the temple, we should really focus on the task at hand." Sokka said with the voice of reason. Aang looked at him puzzled for a second before saying,

"Oh, getting to the North Pole, right." He looked down-hearted, not being able to come up with a good enough excuse to go.

"I think we should go to the Northern temple, it would be nice for Aang to see some of his kin, and it's pretty much directly on the way to the North Pole from here." I said, having stayed out of the conversation until now. Katara chimed in with a,

"Yea, I think Aang deserves to see who these 'Air-walkers" really are. Actually, I'd like to see them too." After a short pause during which he contemplated Aang, Katara, and I in desperation he said reluctantly,

"Well, I guess a short visit couldn't hurt." Instantly he was being hugged by both Katara and Aang, before being joined by me and Momo.

It wasn't until the next day before we started seeing the outline of a temple very similar to the one in the South, or so Aang said.

"Look! There really are airbenders!" cried Katara, but then Aang said,

"Those aren't airbenders; you can tell by the way they're flying. They have no spirit," he looked significantly down-hearted. I went to the edge of the saddle and started looking closely at the small shapes of people gliding on staffs very similar to the one Aang had. Just then a boy came streaking out from underneath Appa and made me jump back, nearly falling off the other side. As the kid turned and came for another pass Aang jumped off of Appa's head, opening his glider as he went. He went flying off after the boy who, now that I looked closely, was also in a wheelchair. As we watched Aang fly through the air with the other boy, I noticed more gliders getting nearer to us as we approached the temple. I also noticed small trails of smoke furling out of the openings in the temple. Just then, two gliders shot out from underneath Appa, which caused him to rear up and for Katara to fly back and nearly fall off the back, but landing on me and Sokka. As she moved off us Sokka said,

"We better find some solid ground, before it finds us!" Katara agreed as I climbed up to Appa's head and started steering him towards the temple's main grounds. As we landed, we saw Aang come around the corner and land right in front of us, as we all saw the other boy, whom Aang said was named Teo. He had just completed a smoke air-drawing of Aang, who didn't think it was very funny. As Tao landed, other people came over to lift the glider off of his wheelchair. He wheeled over to us, and then exclaimed,

"Hey! You're a real airbender! But then, you must be the Avatar. I've heard stories about you!"

"Thanks" Aang said sheepishly.

"Wow! These gliders are really amazing!" Sokka said, going over to examine some of the other gliders around them.

"If you think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my Dad designed." Teo said, wheeling towards the entrance to the temple. When I got inside, I saw that the entire inside of the hall was covered in metal, with dozens of pipes crossing and penetrating the ceiling and walls. I vaguely registered Sokka saying something and walking off while Teo replied back, then Aang said,

"This place is unbelievable." I would have hated the place, but something drew me to it, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

"Yea, it's pretty great isn't it?" Teo replied, but Aang said,

"No, just unbelievable." I walked around in the room, curiously disgusted by what I was seeing. It wasn't the metal that made me uncomfortable, it was that the metal was being a destructive force, as it was overbearing all the original work from the monks. I walked over to an almost destroyed mural where Aang and Katara were.

"This is supposed to be the history of my people," Aang said gloomily, looking at the floor. As Katara tried to comfort him however, he moved on over to a disgusting looking pool with a statue of some beast above it. As we looked at it, it belched smoke, which apparently scared Aang and he drew back. Katara, who was again trying to comfort Aang said,

"Don't worry Aang, I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same."

"If you want to see some of the original temple, I can show it to you." Teo called from across the room, where he was showing something to Sokka.

"Come on!" he wheeled off and we followed him, Sokka a little reluctantly. He led us to a small satellite part of the temple, only attached by a small walkway. When we got inside, it was a relief to see the inside of it seemingly untouched. Just as the others and I started looking at a huge statue of an airbender monk however, I heard from off in the distance someone yelling,

"Look out!" I covered my face just in time as a giant wrecking ball came smashing through the wall and disintegrated the statue of the monk. I could see several people emerging from the cloud of dust left by the wrecking ball. Then a partially bald man with a red monocle in his right eye stepped forward from the rest. He was wearing a green tunic mostly covered by a white smock and was completely covered in dust.

"What the doodle! Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!" he had a voice and demeanor that suggested he had been very cheerful in his time, although he did not look quite so much anymore. Aang stepped up,

"Do you know what you just did? You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" he looked ready for a fight, and I could sense his anger was reaching boiling point. He swung his staff and struck the ground with it, causing a blast of air to rocket past the people behind the man and blow the wrecking ball and crane to fly off the edge of the cliff. Then Aang turned back to the man,

"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like." The man looked a little confused, and a little scared.

"The monks? But you're 12!" He seemed like he was trying to keep reason in the conversation, something he had mastered. But then Teo said something that immediately cleared up who the man was,

"Dad, this kid's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago." Teo's dad looked back at Aang who started up again,

"What are you doing? Who said you could be here?" He advanced on Teo's dad with every question. The man turned away as he started,

"Hmmm, doing here. A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood." He made large gestures as he went to stand behind his son's wheelchair ". My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother. I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home! Then I came across these fan like contraptions!" Aang still did not look convinced, but I saw Sokka and Katara thought otherwise. I remained silent as Aang said,

"Our gliders," with extra emphasis on the word 'our'. But Teo's dad seemed to ignore the emphasis and said,

"Yes, little light flying machines. They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak! We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?" now I was on the verge of saying something, but Aang beat me to it,

"Nature knows where to stop." He said it with a finality that told me the conversation was very nearly over, whether resolved or not.

"I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us. Look at the time!" he seemed grateful for a change of subject as he looked over at a group of candles on a little table. As I looked at it, it flashed four times, which prompted Sokka into stating the obvious,

"You put spark powder in the candles!"

"Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday, or, as I call it, four o'candle! Come," he said as he turned to the others behind him,

"The pulley system must be oiled before dark." Even though it looked like Aang wanted to continue his argument, Teo said something that, temporarily at least, would take his mind off the subject,

"Come on Aang, I want to show you something." As Sokka and the others walked off, Teo led the three of us in a different direction, downwards into the bowels of the temple. Then as we were walking downwards, Aang seemed to burst into speech as though he could no longer hold it in,

"I just can't believe it, not a single thing is how it used to be." Teo, although initially taken off guard, casually stopped and picked up a small crab off the floor.

"I don't know about that. The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendents of the ones that lived here a long time ago."

"Yeah, they're kind of like keepers of the temple's origins." Katara said as Teo handed her the little crab. She in turn handed it to Aang, who smiled.

"Besides," Teo said,

"There's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all." He started wheeling towards another tunnel off the side of the one on which we were. At the end of the tunnel there was a small door, which I opened. It opened onto a much larger hall, with ornately carved Airbender symbols in the walls and floor. There was broken light filtering through large windows on one side of the hall. I saw a huge wooden door at the end of the hall. It had a large round mechanism in the center of it, comprised of a series of tubes and three air symbols arranged in a triangle. The tubes were all connected to two horns at the base of the woodcut. Katara then exclaimed,

"It looks just like the one in the southern air temple!" we stopped in front of the large door as Teo said,

"I'm pretty sure only an airbender can open it, so inside it's completely untouched. I've always kind of wondered what's inside." He looked over at Aang,

"Aang?" I asked, but Aang said,

"Sorry, but this is the last part of the temple that's still the same. I want it to stay that way."

"I completely understand, I just wanted you to know it was here." Teo said. I placed my hand on Aang's shoulder and said,

"Well, I think I know one more thing that hasn't changed."

We walked back to the terrace on which Appa had landed.

"I think I'm gonna try a little flying," I said as I picked up two gliders. I looked over at Katara and held out one of the gliders,  
"How about you Katara? Want to try?" after hesitating a moment, she took one and said,

"You're on."

As we got ready to take off, Teo started coaching us,

"The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you, something even lighter than air, and that something takes over when you fly." Nevertheless, Katara didn't look so confident anymore. She looked over the edge of the terrace but pulled back quickly, looking scared.

"I've changed my mind, I think I was born without that something," She said nervously, But Teo just laughed and said,

"That's impossible, everybody has it." Then Aang, who had been quiet the entire time, said bluntly,  
"Spirit."

"What?" Teo asked, stopping laughing and looking over at Aang.

"That's the something you're talking about." Teo looked at him for a moment, then said thoughtfully,

"Yea, I suppose it is." As they were talking, I looked back over at Katara, who looked only slightly Reassured. Then I said quietly, so only she could hear me,

"Don't worry Katara. If you fall, I'll catch you." She looked up from the cliff, and I held out my hand.

"Ready," I said as she took it.

"No!" She yelled, but I jumped, and she jumped with me. As we fell, she started screaming, but it turned into delight as we leveled out. I let go of her hand.

"I can't believe I'm flying!" she yelled between bouts of laughter. Aang and Teo glided up next to us, and I started concentrating on my own flight. The feeling was exhilarating; I felt weightless. This was as close as I had ever come to actually flying, and I could understand Katara's delight. I closed my eyes and felt the air currents around me. Then I tried something; I used firebending to warm the air around me and gather speed. Then I opened my eyes and as I did, I flipped backwards and went into a vertical dive towards the terrace. Just before I hit it however, I spiraled and pulled up, flying parallel to the ground. Then as I got to the end, I slowed down, intending to make another pass. However, as I did, something happened. My left wing dipped and drug on the ground, breaking the glider. Having no control of where I was going, I rolled into a ball, preparing for impact. The next time I opened my eyes, I was on my feet. I seemed unharmed, except that my left arm felt sore. I looked around, confused. Apparently, I had rolled myself onto my feet and had not realized it. Then I noticed my glider was nowhere to be seen. I ran over to the edge of the terrace, and saw the glider off in the distance floating haphazardly towards the ground.

"Wow! Nice landing Gālon!" Teo yelled as he landed. Then as he got closer,

"Too bad about the glider though." He looked over the edge, watching the glider as well. I saw Aang fly down and land, looking much happier.

"Hey Teo!" He called before he was close enough to talk.

"You know, if you really wanna see what's inside that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you."

"Great!" Teo replied. I looked back up at the sky as Katara started to land. At first she looked like she was doing good, but then she swerved violently, coming straight at me. Instinctively I took a few steps back, bracing myself. She hit me hard, even though she had been slowing down. I slid a couple of yards on my back before coming to a rest with Katara still on top of me.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, getting off me.

"Nice Landing," I replied, rather breathlessly. I stood up and rubbed my back, which felt like it had cracked.

"I told you I would catch you," I said, and she laughed. I looked around and saw her glider a few yards away upside-down. I walked over and inspected it,

"Well, it looks okay. Let's go meet up with Aang and Teo." I said, and we headed back into the temple.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rotten Eggs

We caught up to Aang and Teo just outside of the hall in which there was the large airbender door. Once we reached the end of the hall, Aang stepped up and looked at the large wooden doors. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before airbending two jets of air into the horns on the door.

"I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside!" Teo exclaimed excitedly, as the airbender symbols flipped, revealing their maroon sides. The doors opened slowly, revealing a horrifying sight. There were Fire Nation weapons adorning the walls, and a large hot air balloon-looking object dominated the floor space. We took a few steps into the room, which did nothing but reveal even more deadly artifacts. I heard running from behind us and turned to see Sokka and the Mechanist coming down the hall towards us. As soon as they got close enough to see inside, Sokka's expression turned from what had been somewhat excitement into downright incredulity,

"You make weapons for the Fire Nation?" He cried angrily.

"You d-don't understand," the Mechanist stammered, looking ashamed.

"Explain this! Now!" Teo said very loudly and very angrily. The Mechanist was silent for a long time before starting slowly,

"It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this Teo." Now he sounded pleading, as if trying to convince himself he did the right thing.  
"They were going to destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them; I begged them to spare us. They asked what I had to offer. I offered, my services." He looked up at Teo,

"You must understand, I did this for you." However, Teo merely turned his wheelchair away from his father. After looking hopelessly at Teo's back for a while, the Mechanist turned and headed back up the hall. I looked back up at the Fire Nation Emblem emblazoned on the balloon and then said,

"We have to stop them, this can't continue." I looked back at the others as Aang said,

"I'll go, Teo?" He looked over at Teo, who nodded. They went up the hall after the Mechanist, and Sokka, Katara and I headed up towards the exterior of the temple. We headed over towards the satellite building where we knew Aang would head, and because it was one of the only secluded places in the temple. I waited in silence, but Sokka and Katara kept whispering to each other frantically, especially Sokka. Every once in a while, I would catch snippets of what they were saying,

"How are we going to fight them all off?"

"…Rotten eggs, really…" they talked until Aang and Teo came out of the temple and told us what happened. The firebenders were going to attack very soon, and they had little time to prepare. Sokka and Katara were looking very pale,

"Aang, how can we possibly keep them all away?" Katara asked, distressed. For answer, Aang pointed into the sky, where a few gliders were still flitting about.

"We have something they don't. Air power! We control the sky." I looked at him, impressed at his logical thinking in this time of need. Just then, The Mechanist came walking up from behind us,

"I want to help," he said. Aang looked at him for a moment before answering,

"Good, we'll need it." The Mechanist smiled,

"I have a plan. Come to my office." I smiled at the terribly clichéd tone that Teo's dad used with the latter sentence. He led us up to his office, where he had set up his and Sokka's experiment. He and Sokka went around to the other side of the desk to see the assembling people better. For, I had not noticed at first, but there were others filing into the room to see the presentation.

"We finally got the war balloon working, thanks to Sokka."Said the Mechanist, gesturing to Sokka,

"This boy's a genius!" he said, and Sokka replied,

"Thank you, you're a genius."

"Thank You!" The four of us exchanged slightly exasperated glances at this over self-congratulation affair. Sokka looked like he had gotten his head back on straight, and started again,

"Well, the problem with the first war balloon was that you could get it into the air, but then it just kept going." He demonstrated this by letting a small model float up to the ceiling.

"If you put a hole in the top, then all the hot air would escape. So, the question became, how do you keep a lid on hot air?" he pulled the model back down as Katara said out of the corner of her mouth,  
"If only we knew." The rest of us sniggered, and even I couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

"A lid is actually the answer," Sokka plowed on, ignoring the slight.

"If you control the hot air, you control the war balloon." He showed this with another model that had an opening in the top covered by a top.

_That's actually pretty smart, _I thought as Aang said it aloud.

"We can drop four different types of bombs from the gliders." Sokka said,

"Smoke, slime, fire, and-"

"Stink! Never underestimate the power of stink," The Mechanist interjected.

"Alright people, let's get ready! The bombs are down on the terrace." Sokka said, and everyone proceeded to the exit of the office and moved down towards the terrace. As I passed Sokka I patted him on the shoulder and said,

"Nice presentation, I'll see you in the air." He nodded his thanks,

"I'll get the war balloon," he said as he went through another door with the Mechanist.

As I got outside I saw exactly how outnumbered we were going to be. There were no more than twenty or so gliders and only about twenty of each of the bombs. I had decided to stand near the cliff, where I could use my firebending to it's full extent. Katara would stay on Appa with the extra bombs so that the gliders could come back for more when they needed them. Just as we were finishing our preparations, a girl called from the edge of the Terrace,

"Their coming!"

"Are we ready?" Teo asked anxiously,

"Yea, but where's Sokka with the war balloon?" Katara replied.

"It doesn't matter right now; we'll just have to fight without him." I answered, as the gliders took their positions on the terrace.

"Let's go!" Teo yelled as the first gliders took off. I ran to the edge as the last gliders took to the sky and looked over the edge. There was nothing there to comfort me; dozens of fire nation soldiers were marching up out of the mist, and they weren't taking kindly to the slime bombs either. They began to shoot fireballs and thro spears at the gliders, but the gliders were too agile and they all missed.

I waited for an opportunity to attack. At last, I took my chance; I saw a bank of snow precariously positioned over the path. I took careful aim before punching a fireball at it. As the blast hit it, it gave way, collapsing onto at least three soldiers and cascading down the mountainside hitting others. I hardly had time to celebrate my accomplishment, for at that moment, spikes came rocketing out of the clouds, narrowly missing Appa. They dug deep into the cliffside, and drew taught. As I watched, I saw what was supplying the tension to the chains, tanks. And not just any tanks, these were the very ones that I had seen inside the Airbender sanctuary. I was not worried just yet however, seeing as they were made of metal. After bending one off the cliff however, I realized just how difficult it would be to move these behemoths; they weighed a ton, at least. I was still not too fussed, seeing as I could just break the chains and let them fall. However, this did not work either, and I witnessed this as soon as I tried it. For when I broke the chain, the tank simply shot another one on to the cliff, which would take too long to break again, especially if there were more chains. As I watched, I saw Aang try the exact same thing, with a very similar effect. Instead of waiting where I was, I ran down off the terrace to where the soldiers and tanks had started advancing. One of the tanks shot a fireblast at me, which I deflected.

_I haven't had this much fun in a long while, _I thought to myself as I got ready. I took a deep breath and, exhaling, shot three consecutive blasts into the midst of the advancing soldiers. Two of them were blocked, but the third knocked a soldier off balance and into another and both fell off onto a lower terrace. The fact that I was a firebender seemed to confuse them, and they hesitated before attacking. This gave me the opportunity I needed; I ran up to one of the foremost tanks and jumped onto it. I kicked the top off with metalbending, revealing the firebender inside. Before he could do anything, I kicked him as well and knocked him unconscious. By this time, the soldiers had gotten their senses back. One of the pikemen came charging at me, obviously with the intent of skewering me. I jumped down off the tank and pulled out my sword. Sidestepping his stab, I sliced off the end of the spear, and elbowed him in the chest, knocking him down. While I was preoccupied with this however, another soldier had come up behind me with a sword. I made a desperate attempt at a block, but his sword slid down the blade easily, slicing into my right shoulder. I was still able to hold the sword, but I knew I was in trouble. The men were trying to surround me, and I was constantly being beaten from behind. Finally, another soldier got through my defense, and cut my leg below the knee. I fell onto the ground hard and I desperately tried to push myself around into a better defensive stance on the ground. The soldier disarmed me with absurd ease; he raised his sword to strike me down, and then, he was gone. He had been blown back by an air blast from Aang, whom had flown down on his glider.

"Are you alright?" he called, forcing several more soldiers and a tank backwards.

"Yea, I think so," I called back, finally able to push myself onto my feet with the help of an abandoned spear. As I watched, I saw the tanks that Aang had flipped cabin's turn over and keep advancing. I managed to metalbend one of the tank's wheels off before Aang yelled,

"Get up to the terrace; you're too injured to help now!" I silently agreed, but it still took me a while to reach the terrace steps. By then, others had come and helped me up to the second level. I turned and saw Katara fly down on Appa; she seemed to be doing a better job at stopping the tanks than I had. She used her waterbending to destroy them or disable them. However, there were still at least a dozen coming towards the edge of the terrace. Aang, Katara, and Teo looked like they had decided to cut their losses for the moment and retreat to higher ground. They reached the terrace relatively unharmed, but Aang had some small burns and Katara had a cut on her cheek. They quickly gathered around to commence in some hasty council.

"Were all out of bombs!" Teo cried.

"Where is Sokka with that war balloon?" Katara asked hopelessly. As she said this, a large red object rose from beside the terrace. I immediately recognized it as the war balloon, now carrying four enormous sacks of slime. As it floated rather serenely over the Fire Nation soldiers, I was surprised that they did not start attacking. Then I caught sight of the Fire Nation insignia embossed on the side of the balloon. Just as I noticed this, I saw Sokka cut loose one of the enormous sacks. It exploded on the ground as Aang cried gleefully,

"Yea! Sokka!" I joined in with all the hollering and whoops of laughter until the last bomb had been dropped. Then we noticed something; the tanks were still coming. I looked desperately back up at the balloon, where Sokka and the Mechanist seemed to be having an argument, and then Sokka heaved the coal fuel burner from the balloon and into a crevasse below.I saw fire come screaming up out of the crevasse, blowing soldiers away as it headed towards the terrace.

"Everyone get down!" I screamed in turn, throwing myself down just as the explosive forces blew over my head. Fortunately, the surrounding people reacted fast enough not to be blown off the terrace, and for a moment, there was nothing but smoke. As it cleared and the mass of people stood up, I saw that the only remains of the Fire Nation was dangling chains on the cliff, and small figures in the distance running away.

"My Dad and Sokka!" Teo cried, and Aang flew towards the falling balloon in the distance. Obviously after they had gotten rid of their fuel source, they had started falling, and that provided the reason for the argument I had seen earlier. Aang returned, with a slightly windswept Mechanist and Sokka in tow.

"They're retreating!" Aang confirmed as he swooped in with the other two,

"We've won!" There were answering cries and whoops of joy from the crowd, which I could not return for the suffocating hug of which I had become a part. It was comprised of Sokka, Katara, Aang, Teo, and Teo's dad. It was a little painful, because of my injuries, but I felt better because of it. As they let go, I felt something rise up in my chest, and before I could stop it I said,

"Thank you guys. But I think I should say something first. You three, and you too Teo; you accepted me without knowing who I truly am, and I wouldn't be here if it were not for that. However, it would make me feel more comfortable if I knew you really accept me into your group." I had no idea what I was saying, and it did not seem to make sense, but Katara said,

"Of course we accept you,"

"Yea, you're cool." Aang said,

"Gālon, it was great for me to be able to meet you," Teo answered. I felt very relieved with the enthusiasm and turned to Sokka. He seemed to hesitate for half a moment before saying,  
"I'd say you're officially part of Team Avatar; and it doesn't even matter that you're from the Fire Nation." Everyone laughed at this, except for me, because I knew he was being serious. I smiled and leant more on the spear I still had.

"Thanks again, guys." I said. Later, as we said goodbye to the inhabitants, Aang expressed his gratitude that the temple had not been left empty, and was now inhabited by the wonderful people we had met. And even though it did not happen at the time I had expected, I felt grateful that I had been accepted, and now could look ahead, to new adventures.

_Sorry about the really misplaced excuse for having Galon "truly" accepted into the Gaang, but I couldn't find another place to put it._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Louk

We had been flying for days; two, Katara said, but it felt like more. We had left the Northern Air Temple light-hearted, confident in our goals. Now however, it seemed like we were further from our goal than ever.

"I'm not one to complain," Sokka said wearily, obviously complaining,

"But can't Appa fly any higher?" Indeed, Appa was flying very close to the surface of the water, something that made me as a firebender, somewhat nervous. I looked over at the slouched form of Sokka; he was leaning over the back edge of Appa's saddle, dangling his arms off the side. I was sitting next to him, with Katara between Aang and I. Aang's head popped up from Appa's head and over the saddle.

"I've got an idea," he said angrily,

"how about we hop on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole!" Aang's yelling seemed to ring in my ears, more out of sleep deprivation than anything else.

"I'd love to," Sokka replied sarcastically,

"Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!" He waved his butt in the air, and Momo happily jumped on.

"Guys, calm down. We're just a little crazy from being in the air for two days straight." I interjected into the conversation before things got really ugly.

"But, we can't even find the Water Tribe, there's nothing up here." Sokka persisted. However, upon the end of his sentence, a sudden wave exploded out of the water directly in front of us. It froze instantly and Aang barely had enough time to pull Appa out of the way.

"That wasn't natural," I said unnecessarily, as another wall of water rose up and froze in front of us. This one succeeded in clipping Appa on the foot, sending us spiraling towards the water. I clung onto the saddle for dear life, and I could tell Sokka and Katara were doing the same thing. As we hit the water, several more walls of water, although much shorter than the ones before, froze Appa in place. I saw several ornately carved water skiffs coming out from around the surrounding icebergs.

"They're waterbenders!" Cried Katara,

"We've found the Water Tribe!" The flat boats surrounded us completely before the benders unfroze the ice trapping Appa.

"You are to come with us." Said one of the waterbenders; he had a heavy accent, somewhere between Indian and Native American. The waterbenders led us through the labyrinthine icebergs. Then, as we turned around a larger iceberg, we saw it.

"Look!" Aang cried, pointing.  
"The Northern Water Tribe," said Katara with awe.

"We're finally here," I said, getting more nervous at the sight of it.  
"Finally!" Sokka agreed as he flopped back onto the saddle. The walls of the city were massive by any standard; they were made completely out of ice and had a carving of the moon and ocean in the center, the symbol of the Northern Water Tribe. Standing sentinel on either side of the wall were six watchtowers, also made of ice. Once we reached the wall, a small arch opened under the wall, just large enough for us to go through. When we exited the other side, I saw that there was a system of locks, which allowed access to the city. As the area in which we were filled with water, Aang and Katara excitedly conversed about finding a master. Only the skiff with the water tribesman that spoke earlier led us into the city. It was magnificent, there were ornately carved building made completely out of ice everywhere I looked. Sokka however, seemed distracted by a boat headed in the opposite direction, and I could see why. Inside of the boat sat a beautiful girl, about my age. I saw that her hair was white instead of dark, like all the other people I could see. He ran to the edge of Appa's tail in an attempt to follow her.

"This place is beautiful," Katara said from somewhere behind me.

"Yea, she is," Sokka replied dreamily.

After we had explained who we were (although I excluded the fact I'm a firebender)we were shown to a place in which we could stay while we were there. I stayed in the ice hut while the others went exploring until dusk fell, and we were invited to an arrival celebration. It was to be held in a large, square area surrounded by long tables and with a steaming pool in the center, which was lower than the tables. We were seated as follows:

Sokka on the far left, with an open chair next to him; Katara was on his right, and I was on hers, with Aang seated to my right, next to the Water tribesman who had spoken earlier. I now believed this man to be the chief, for his seat was more intricately carved than the rest of them, and his dress was more elaborate. There were others sitting next to the chief as well, and the one immediately to his right looked like his wife. Appa was there as well, and rather scared-looking servants were attending him. Four men came in carrying something on a stretcher, and placed it in the center pool, which steamed. I looked down at the lavish food that had been placed in front of me, but I did not eat it. It wasn't because I wasn't hungry, I was starving; it was mostly just because I was nervous about my introduction. As I thought this, the Chief stood up and instantly the congregation silenced,

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, as well as our Friend Gālon from the Earth Kingdom." I tensed in my seat, hoping no one was going to yell that I was really from the Fire Nation, and be locked away in some Ice prison forever. However, the Chief merely continued,  
"They have also brought with them someone very special, someone we believed gone until now." He gestured at Aang, who stood up as well,

"The Avatar!" The Congregation cheered at the introductions, and I unclenched my fists. The Chief went on,

"We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday, Princess Yue is now of marrying age." I turned in my seat to see the girl Sokka had been oogling earlier flanked by two servants. The girl and the two attendants bowed.

"Thank you Father," Princess Yue said before turning to the crowd,

"may the Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us in these troubled times." She walked over to where a blushing Sokka was sitting and sat next to him. The chief turned again to the crowd and extended his arms to the opposite side of the square.

"Now Master Pakku and his students will perform!" he clapped as the entire crowd cheered again. On the dais the chief had indicated there was no table, but three men standing in a triangle, with three large pots in front of them respectively. The man in the center was older than the other two, and looked severe, like he had something permanently stuck under his nose. His hair was long, although it only sprouted from the sides of his head, and it ran down his back almost past his waist. The other two were young, but strong; I noticed the one on the right's technique was better than the other's, and he seemed more relaxed as the routine continued. The three bent the water out of the large pots in front of them and into fantastic shapes. They seemed to effortlessly meld into each other before separating and distorting again. I watched them intently as Aang and Katara exchanged eager expressions. Sokka however, was distracted by Yue's closeness to him, and was desperately trying to strike up a conversation with her. I finally started to eat, and relax. I had liked the waterbending and decided I might go with Aang to the training area the next day, and if I might be able to learn something from it. After the dinner, Aang and I were led over to the dais on which Master Pakku still stood by the chief, whose name it transpired was Arnook. He went up to Master Pakku and shook his hand in the traditional waterbender fashion.

"Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar." Chief Arnook gestured towards Aang, who bowed. As a precaution, I did as well. The master looked at Aang scathingly,

"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment," he said harshly. Trying to ignore this, Aang said excitedly,

"My friend and I can't wait to start training with you; after we relax for a couple of days." Master Pakku looked at me sideways before replying to Aang,

"If you want to relax I would suggest a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise. Good night." With that, he turned and left us all standing there, looking somewhat taken aback. Chief Arnook merely shrugged, and after slightly awkward pause, we said goodnight to the Chief and headed back to our hut.

I woke early the next day, so as to join Aang and Katara when they go to see Master Pakku. As we left, bundled in several layers of clothing against the weather, Katara kept bursting into exclamations of joy.

"I can't believe I'm finally going to learn from a real waterbending master!" her hands fumbling with themselves nervously. Aang then struck up a conversation with her about the lessons would be like.  
"Well, I heard about this move called 'The Ocean's Tide', it's supposed to be really hard to do." Aang was saying,  
"Oh yea, what does that one look like?" I interjected, intrigued. However, before Aang could answer, we ascended a large staircase and reached the training area. I looked around and saw some other waterbenders practicing a little ways away. After mentioning it to the other two, I walked over to them, watching as one of the older boys bent a body of water into another, whom appeared to be his sparring partner. The smaller boy had hardly seen the wall coming before it was upon him. The older boy (he was about my age), then froze the water, effectively trapping the other. He turned around looking casually uninterested, and I recognized him. He was one of the waterbenders whom had performed with Masteer Pakku the night before. He had dark hair like the others, but his eyes were green, rather than blue, like mine. He had a calm complexion, and looked completely in his element. He appeared bored at what had visibly been a very easy duel. I was intrigued at this obviously gifted waterbender, and I walked over to where he sat.

"Uh, hi, my name's Galon." I said apprehensively, proferring my hand.

"Hey, uh, Galon, I'm Louk," he replied. He raised his hand, but instead of taking mine he merely ran it through his hair.

"I just got here," I said, letting my hand flop back to my side lamely,

"Yea no kidding," he said, chuckling at some inside joke. I frowned at this, but continued,

"I came here with the Avatar." I turned and over to where Aang was. As I watched, I saw Master Pakku blast of jet of water at him, knocking him down. I also noticed Katara was nowhere to be seen. Louk watched me for a moment with one of his eyebrows cocked, before he spoke,

"Well, why don't you pull up a chair, I'd like to hear a little bit more about you." He raised his arm swiftly, and as he did another flat block of ice raised out of the ground. I sat down, and proceeded to tell Louk about the two adventures I had shared with the others so far, and he in turn described more about the city. I, of course left out any parts of me bending, instead substituting in hand-to-hand combat. At last we exhausted the subject, and Louk stood up,  
"Where are you going?" I asked as he walked over a few meters before turning,

"I want to see how well you fight. I've never faced a firebender before." I froze where I stood; I didn't believe what I had heard.


End file.
